bdfreetuna
New member
Absolutely amazing day to be at Magic. The red chair just reopened today, meaning, all the snow they had from the last 2 storms was just sitting there and only skied by turn-earners in the meantime. I arrived just before 9:00, the parking lot was still pretty empty so I had a quick breakfast sandwich and got on the red chair.
Started the day off right they were bumping some live Phish during the morning at the bottom of the lift. I knew right away just by looking anywhere around me this was going to be the best day of skiing so far this season. As soon as I touched my skis down off the lift and headed over to the west side I realized conditions were incredible. Heavenly. Like, 4-5" of soft powder on top of a base of either more powder or packed powder, depending on the trail.
First run was down Broomstick, a sort of steep little narrow one, soft bumps. This dumped me out into another soft bump field.
Over the course of the day I skied hard with just a couple 5-10 minute breaks. Primarily I skied powder/moguls. During my time there I became more confident sort of zipping through powdery bumps. I adjusted my technique and after a few runs it was like I was sort of softly bouncing off them and gliding over the tops of them. Really a fantastic feeling. The really steeper stuff like the double diamonds there I was not skiing this fast, but I hucked a couple small/medium cliffs under the red chair and jumped a few water bars. Stuff I would probably do normally anyway but this came without hesitation today.
Secondarily I skied the woods. The Wardrobe was excellent. Really really excellent. You had your choice of fresh lines or you could ski where other people have bumped it up a bit. Either way is fun to me, I like to mix it up. Wardrobe is a really awesome woods zone.. this being the first time I've skied it I was really impressed with the unique and interesting feel to it. Overall not *that* difficult but the entrance was a little hairy. I skied a couple other woods but the other one that stands out is whatever are the woods to the East of the red chair, up near the top. This, on the other hand is probably one of the more difficult woods I know. Very tight trees, and a pitch that makes you feel like you just skied your full height or more with every quick turn. These woods are sick. Goes from birch trees, to a pine grove, switches ecosystems a couple times, and has cliffs. I was paused trying to evaluate my next move in the steepest area with also very tight trees... when I heard a kid shout from the lift (which is just barely within sight and earshot).. "Go over the cliff!!"... I shouted back "YOU go over the cliff!".. He said "I have before!". The kid was probably no older than 12 so obviously I was left with no choice but to huck a good 10-15 foot drop from a steep approach into a still steep tree field.
I really had no choice. I can't let a 6th grader think I'm a wuss. So I hucked it as carefully as possible, stuck my landing in some soft snow, and made a bunch more turns in the woods before coming to a stop. The kid at this point was almost out of sight and earshot, but I heard a "Yeah!! Shred the gnar!"
Finally, some elementary validation. I knew at that moment that what I had just pulled off made me look like a better skier than I actually am. But hey, maybe I won't have a regressing season after all :razz:
Those woods were eating up my quads at an exponential rate, however. And it was only 1:30 or so. I wasn't going to call it quits so early, so I spent the next hour and a half cruising the green and blue groomers. Which skied exceptionally well. The greens were mostly groomed but still steep enough to get some speed going and a nice carve. The blues were mostly ungroomed with all kinds of powder stashes and smaller moguls. Pretty sure I was killin' it all over the mountain there today.
My legs wouldn't handle any more by 3:00pm, I felt it was becoming cruel and unusual punishment to myself and it was taking a lot of effort to not start to ski sloppy. So that was that.
Overall best day out in terms of conditions, best day out in terms of my skiing, and plus it was Magic Mountain which is just a super fun mountain to ski.
Started the day off right they were bumping some live Phish during the morning at the bottom of the lift. I knew right away just by looking anywhere around me this was going to be the best day of skiing so far this season. As soon as I touched my skis down off the lift and headed over to the west side I realized conditions were incredible. Heavenly. Like, 4-5" of soft powder on top of a base of either more powder or packed powder, depending on the trail.
First run was down Broomstick, a sort of steep little narrow one, soft bumps. This dumped me out into another soft bump field.
Over the course of the day I skied hard with just a couple 5-10 minute breaks. Primarily I skied powder/moguls. During my time there I became more confident sort of zipping through powdery bumps. I adjusted my technique and after a few runs it was like I was sort of softly bouncing off them and gliding over the tops of them. Really a fantastic feeling. The really steeper stuff like the double diamonds there I was not skiing this fast, but I hucked a couple small/medium cliffs under the red chair and jumped a few water bars. Stuff I would probably do normally anyway but this came without hesitation today.
Secondarily I skied the woods. The Wardrobe was excellent. Really really excellent. You had your choice of fresh lines or you could ski where other people have bumped it up a bit. Either way is fun to me, I like to mix it up. Wardrobe is a really awesome woods zone.. this being the first time I've skied it I was really impressed with the unique and interesting feel to it. Overall not *that* difficult but the entrance was a little hairy. I skied a couple other woods but the other one that stands out is whatever are the woods to the East of the red chair, up near the top. This, on the other hand is probably one of the more difficult woods I know. Very tight trees, and a pitch that makes you feel like you just skied your full height or more with every quick turn. These woods are sick. Goes from birch trees, to a pine grove, switches ecosystems a couple times, and has cliffs. I was paused trying to evaluate my next move in the steepest area with also very tight trees... when I heard a kid shout from the lift (which is just barely within sight and earshot).. "Go over the cliff!!"... I shouted back "YOU go over the cliff!".. He said "I have before!". The kid was probably no older than 12 so obviously I was left with no choice but to huck a good 10-15 foot drop from a steep approach into a still steep tree field.
I really had no choice. I can't let a 6th grader think I'm a wuss. So I hucked it as carefully as possible, stuck my landing in some soft snow, and made a bunch more turns in the woods before coming to a stop. The kid at this point was almost out of sight and earshot, but I heard a "Yeah!! Shred the gnar!"
Finally, some elementary validation. I knew at that moment that what I had just pulled off made me look like a better skier than I actually am. But hey, maybe I won't have a regressing season after all :razz:
Those woods were eating up my quads at an exponential rate, however. And it was only 1:30 or so. I wasn't going to call it quits so early, so I spent the next hour and a half cruising the green and blue groomers. Which skied exceptionally well. The greens were mostly groomed but still steep enough to get some speed going and a nice carve. The blues were mostly ungroomed with all kinds of powder stashes and smaller moguls. Pretty sure I was killin' it all over the mountain there today.
My legs wouldn't handle any more by 3:00pm, I felt it was becoming cruel and unusual punishment to myself and it was taking a lot of effort to not start to ski sloppy. So that was that.
Overall best day out in terms of conditions, best day out in terms of my skiing, and plus it was Magic Mountain which is just a super fun mountain to ski.
but that should change tomorrow. It is wicked steep and tightly spaced :smile:
